Links To Go (June 6, 2017)

All this to say that if church and mission leadership strategically turn to the artistic kingdom servants in their networks, they will embrace untold creative resources for designing at least seven environments wherein they and their vast army of normal Jesus-loved-people-loving volunteer Christians can meet with, pray for, care for, and share with people in their neighborhoods and communities.

Flight crews can put out a lithium ion battery fire when the device is in the cabin. Indeed the fire was out before the plane landed in Grand Rapids.
When lithium ion batteries catch fire in the cargo hold there’s far less that they can do. That’s why lithium ion batteries have been banned from checked luggage, at least until the US government banned electronics larger than a standard cell phone from passenger cabins on flights from certain Mideast airports (while allowing those who wish to bring on dangerous iPads to connect on their way to the U.S.).

Years ago I heard Charles Swindoll preach a sermon on “The Characteristics of a Lazy Man” from the book of Proverbs. I took quick, scratchy notes and have occasionally used and expanded on the principles Dr. Swindoll shared that day. I’ve reworked them to the point that now I can’t remember which ones originated with him…probably most. But the following characteristics help distinguish between appropriate ambition and downright laziness.

Orai is the brainchild of Drexel University engineering students Danish Dhamani and Paritosh Gupta. The app provides written prompts that you read aloud, which it then processes to provide instant feedback on speech clarity, filler words, pace, and vocal energy to help you become a more effective communicator.

There is nothing original about this list. It has all been said before by writers much smarter than me. I’ve just arranged things differently, and I keep changing them as the years go by. There’s nothing binding here. All suggestions can be ignored when necessary. I do it all the time. However, I write each day with these habits ingrained. — J.G.

Around 2010, the same time the internet made international calls a lot less expensive, phone scammers began relocating outside the U.S. Whether they’re calling from India or Jamaica, voice over internet protocol technology makes spamming numbers with prerecorded messages cheap and easy. Another trick, known as “call spoofing,” allows frauds to input fake caller IDs to make it seem like they’re calling from within the country. Some telemarketers even go so far as to call from the recipient’s home area code, leading the person on the receiving end to think it’s someone they know.

I am writing to alert you that your email account has been hacked by an unfortunate and unusually hostile individual. Please remedy your account’s security right away, lest this person’s uninformed and sexist rantings give you a bad name. After all, we men have to look out for each other!